


Car Crash Aftermath 101

by JForward



Category: Community (TV)
Genre: Car Accidents, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-24
Updated: 2015-03-24
Packaged: 2018-03-19 08:29:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3603318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JForward/pseuds/JForward
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jeff turns up with bruising on his face and a twitchy disposition. Soon it becomes abundantly clear why.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Car Crash Aftermath 101

When Jeff walked into the study room that morning, the whole group went silent, staring at him. Sliding his book onto the desk, Jeff slumped into his chair, in his normal fashion. But the quiet continued. Lifting his head, he frowned at the rest of the group, with his normal irritated squint and furrowed brows. “What?” he snapped out, and they all exchanged glances. It was Shirley that broke the silence.  
“Jeffrey, dear - what happened to you face?” she asked, in her normal sickly-sweet tones, then recoiled (as did everyone else) as Jeff jerked upright, tugging his phone from his pocket and squinting at his reflection. Then cursed, tilting his head to try to see the bruising better.

Annie solved the problem by sliding a pocket mirror over to him. Jeff picked it up, turning his head this way and that. There was a bruise on the side of his face, mostly along his cheekbone and the edge of his forehead. There was also a small cut. “What happened?” Annie reinforced, concern heavy in her voice, and Jeff looked up at her.   
“I may’ve been in a - very small - car crash this morning.” he murmured, unwillingly. The whole group gasped in horror, and Jeff held up his hands, palms flat, in a surrender gesture. “It wasn’t a big deal. They hit the passenger side, I got bumped into the wall, it’s still driveable. I took their details, insurance should cover the repairs.”

Annie reached out, patting Jeff on his near arm, and he gave her a tight smile. The whole group exchanged glances and Jeff slid the mirror back to Annie. “Don’t worry about it, guys. So. What did I interrupt?” he asked, letting his eyes roam around the table, but the quiet met him. “Oh, come on, guys! I’m fine. Just a bit bruised.”  
“Shouldn’t you be going to the hospital?” Annie asked him, and Jeff rolled his eyes slightly. “Jeff, I’m serious!” she added, and the others nodded.  
“I once knew this guy, he was in a car crash, thought he was fine, but like, twenty years later, he just died.” Troy shook his head after he spoke, “You can’t be too careful, Jeff.”  
“How old was this guy when he got in the car crash?” Jeff asked, deadpan.  
“I dunno, ‘bout sixty, why?” Troy replied, and Jeff leant back.   
“Mystery solved.” he muttered, and the others sniggered.   
“I’m glad to see you finally acting like a man, Jeff,” Pierce threw in, “None of this gay pansy shit. In my day, if you got hit by a car, you just walked it off! Nobody spent all this time crying and limping.” as usual, he was glared at. “What?” he asked, innocently, and the others turned back to watching Jeff.

“How bad is it?” he asked, turning his head to let them see. There were a few dismissive noises, but the group was clearly concerned. “Wonderful.” he sighed, gingerly touching the marks again. “Can we talk about something else?” he asked the group, shaking his head but still letting his fingertips run over the mottled colours. After another couple of concerned glances, Abed finally spoke;  
“So they announced who’s going to be at Inspecticon next y-”  
“In-dean-itably, young Watson!” the Dean announced, interrupting in his usual fashion, walking into the study room. Jeff’s expression shifted from self focus to his normal irritation, and he sighed pointedly as the Dean immediately put a hand on his shoulder.

“Wow, I’m amazed it’s not a dress.” Jeff commented, dryly, turning his head around to catch sight of the Sherlock Holmes getup that the dean was in today. Apparently, this was a mistake, as the dean caught sight of the marks up the side of his face and gasped in horror.   
“Oh my god, Jeffrey! Who hurt you?” he asked, immediately bending down, grabbing the other side of Jeff’s face and forcing the man to turn. Jeff’s response was to shove him hard in the chest, jerking away as best he could. “You have to tell me who hurt you!” the Dean demanded.

“I was in a damned car crash!” he snarled out, ignoring the repeated gasp of horror, “Would you all stop it?!” he grabbed ahold of his books, jerking to his feet and storming out of the room, leaving the rest of them behind and the Dean almost choking out his name in horror. Jeff wasn’t sure where to go, his feet automatically taking him towards the canteen, as there was still ten minutes before class. He went and ordered a coffee, ignoring the odd looks he was getting. As he waited, leaning on the counter, Leonard walked by;   
“Get in a slap fight, Winger?” he chortled.  
“Shut up, Leonard, before I show you how I fight.” he snapped back, ignoring the old man’s chuckle as he wobbled off.

Paper coffee cup warming his hand, Jeff went and sat down, taking sips from it and not caring about the way it was burning his mouth. Okay, so maybe he shouldn’t’ve come into class after the crash, but the idea of going back home today? Not good. Plus he had a kinda major test today that he really couldn’t deal with flunking. His free hand fidgeted, tapping out a pattern on the table, and he turned the coffee cup in his burning fingertips. Nobody came to find him, thank god - he didn’t think he could’ve coped with that. And when he went to biology, sitting at the table, the others glanced at him but made no further comment about his bruises. In fact, they weren’t talking to him at all. As the lecture went on, he managed to actually take a handful of notes, though he was constantly fidgeting. At the end of the class, he just grabbed his books and vanished off, fleeing to the canteen.

Britta joined him in the line as he queued, not sure what to get. “You need to stop storming out of places,” she commented, and he glared down at her.   
“I’m not in the mood for you to try and find some deeper issues, Britta. I was in a car crash, got some bruises, boo hoo very scary. I’m fine. Don’t try to make this deeper than it is.” he snapped, and she looked slightly startled. A little guilt bubbled up but he stepped back, “You know what? I’m not hungry.” dumping his tray on the pile, Jeff walked off, ignoring her calling his name. He really wasn’t in the mood.

BANG!

It didn’t matter what had caused it. Someone dropping a tray, maybe a chair falling backward; the noise was too familiar. Pain streaked up his side, jarred his shoulder, like a sheet of glass striking the side of his face. Images flashed in his eyes - the blue of the other car coming in, the panic in the other driver’s eyes. His breathing was rapid, too rapid, and he realised he’d half slumped back onto the table behind him - thankfully nobody was there. His eyes flickered around wildly, heart feeling like it was going to jump out of his chest, fingers digging tight into the edge of the plastic shelf. His rapidly scouting eyes picked up the sight of the rest of the study group coming in and oh no, god no, not them. What the hell was happening? His legs were shaking, and he could breathe. Distantly, he heard someone calling his name - Annie? But he found himself sinking into the seat behind him. Damnit. His breathing just wouldn’t slow, and his hands were shaking, and all he could feel was the constant impact of the other car slamming into his-

“Jeff?” that was definitely Annie. She appeared in front of him, crouching, staring up into his face. The others appeared behind him; Troy and Abed had sat down, unaware of what was going on, it seemed. Pierce snorted.  
“He having a gay awakening?” the old man asked, but Jeff was barely aware of him.  
“Come on, Jeff, breathe. Deep breaths. Follow my breathing.” Annie told Jeff, and though it was difficult through the dizziness, he tried to follow her steady inhale and exhales.  
“Good lord, what’s wrong with the boy?” Shirley said, voice getting a bit clearer.  
“He’s having a panic attack,” Annie told her, not breaking eye contact with Jeff, slowly leading him down from the fear.

To his absolute embarrassment, Jeff found his eyes were wet when he could breathe properly. Turning away from their sight, he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. Annie patted his leg, but didn’t say anything, as Britta came over and put her tray of salad down. “What’s going on, guys?”  
“Jeff just had a panic attack.” Abed said, and Jeff shot him an angry look as Britta looked around at him.   
“You had a panic attack? You?!” she exclaimed, and he groaned, rolling his eyes. “Jeff, that’s serious! You clearly have some issues that need addressing-”  
“No, Britta. I don’t. I did not have a panic attack. I just - overheated. Needed to sit down.” the whole group gave him a long, concerned look. “Would you stop staring at me like I’m about to keel over?! I’m fine!” Annie got to her feet, folding her arms, with that determined expression back in place. Damnit. “Annie! Don’t look at me like that.”  
“Jeff!” she squeaked, “What on earth happened? Britta, don’t interrupt-” she ignored Britta’s frustrated noise.

“Alright. I got - a little - spooked.” he admitted. “I saw the crash again. There was a bang-”  
“Someone knocked over the recycling bin by the door.” Britta said, quietly, “I didn’t think anything of it-” they went quiet as Jeff jerked to his feet.   
“You know what? This conversation. It’s over. This little pity party? It’s over. I’m fine.”  
“Jeffrey, wait. We’re just worried. We’re your friends! We want to make sure you’re okay!” Shirley called after him, but he didn’t even bother to reply to her, leaving them to just stare at his retreating backside. Pierce made some comment, and it diffused the tension, but Annie was still staring after where Jeff had gone. There was still half an hour of lunch left, and she found herself wondering just where the hell he would go.

* * *

 

He was sitting in his car, with the door open, on his phone. As she approached, Annie saw the dented passenger side, wincing slightly at the sight. He didn’t notice her coming; she opened the damaged door, slipping into the seat. Jeff looked around, startled, and she offered a handful of leaflets to him. “What-?” he accepted them. They were about panic attacks and coping with them. “Annie…”

“I used to have them, when I was still dealing with withdrawals.” she explained, in a quiet voice. “They’re not fun. And it’s normal. But if stuff like that happens when you’re driving, Jeff, you need to know how to deal with it, okay?” he murmured something under his breath, and she reached out, taking his arm. “I’m serious. For once, Jeff, please, just accept a little help. It’ll wear off in a couple of weeks, I’m sure, when you’re over it.” he swallowed hard, looking down at the literature again.   
“Thanks, Annie.” he said, quietly, and meant it. She smiled at him, opening the passenger door again.   
“See you next class?” she asked, and he nodded, smiling at her. Then he turned the page of the first pamphlet, starting to read.


End file.
